For almost as long as Warhammer 40,000 has existed, countless enemies have beset the rotten and beleaguered Imperium from within and without, invading with great fleets, or infiltrating populations to turn civilians and military alike against their cruel masters.
The Tyranids operate on both fronts – gargantuan hive fleets blot out the stars as they float from one system to another, while vanguard organisms scout ahead and soften up the next target. This initial contact is achieved by planting insidious Genestealer Cults on the planet, and at the heart of each sits a Patriarch.
Genestealers are among the longest-serving antagonists in Warhammer 40,000, and have appeared in all sorts of different forms over the years. The glowering Genestealer Cult Patriarch is the apex form of this predatory biomorph, a powerful psychic horror that dominates the local humans with its hypnotic abilities.
This Patriarch is perched on an industrial pipe signalling the Cults’ tendency to embed themselves on heavily populated manufactorum planets. Posed touching its mind and impressing its malign will, when viewed from the side its crescent form even matches the icon of the Genestealer Cults, often seen stencilled on banners and vehicles.
These monstrous beings sire dozens of progeny when seeding a Cult. Their offspring run the gamut from Neophyte Hybrids that can often just about pass muster as sickly citizens, to twisted Aberrants whose barely human forms are twisted with alien power.
The first time the cults reared their bald heads was in the late 80s. Initially appearing as Genestealer Hybrids, this Rogue Trader-era force featured two different Patriarchs, a portly specimen sat on a throne who let his minions do all the dirty work, and a more athletic version who took action into his own hands and sported some serious bling.
The rest of the range includes the iconic Hybrid Genestealer with a third arm stealthily holding a dagger. The studio staff at the time even created a Genestealer Cult army with two completely scratch-built armoured Coven Limousines for transporting their patriarchs in style – a far cry from the current-day militant factory worker aesthetic.
It’s not all Cults and subterfuge though – Genestealers have been shock troops, racing out ahead of Tyranid lines to tear foes limb from limb, for just as long, and the trusty Genestealer Brood has seen plenty of versions over the years. While Genestealers were first mentioned in Rogue Trade, many Warhammer fans will know them from their appearances in Space Hulk over the years, the iconic tactical horror game that pits man versus alien in a desperate battle.
This perfect predator has adapted and become even more perfect over time, with dynamic revisions clambering down from walls and bursting out from flooring.
The latest kit merges old and new, speedy killers clambering over pipes and lunging forward with rending claws outstretched. It even contains enough tendril-mouthed Ymgarl heads to outfit a whole brood with this peculiar strain.
You can be sure that as the new Tyranid army for Warhammer 40,000 takes to the field that Genestealers will be a vital part of it.